Because the Forrester analysis workforce carried out its evaluation for the high 10 rising applied sciences this 12 months, it turned clear that among the dynamics in Europe are completely different, each for present and deliberate funding in rising applied sciences.
Opposite to continued well-liked false impression, this isn’t a narrative about European corporations lagging behind in know-how adoption or a scarcity of modern startups. For instance, after we look again at AI adoption charges throughout Europe in 2020, the European charges weren’t that completely different from what we had been seeing elsewhere; many of the software program, nevertheless, was procured from non-European corporations, largely US-based suppliers. As for Europe’s rising tech startups, the most effective tended to be snapped up by US corporations (e.g., DeepMind, acquired by Google) or selected to maneuver their headquarters to the US with the intention to develop (e.g., Spotify).
Whereas all of that is nonetheless the case in the present day, current geopolitical developments have resulted in a concerted drive towards lowering that dependency. EU initiatives embody the AI continent motion plan, the intention of which is for the EU to develop into “a world chief in synthetic intelligence” and a number one AI continent. Lower than a month after the AI plan launch, European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen in early Might introduced the no much less formidable Select Europe for Science drive, which seeks to draw worldwide analysis expertise to the EU with grants and decreased forms. The UK, ranked fifth within the 2024 Authorities AI Readiness Index and first in Western Europe, has laid out its personal AI Alternatives Motion Plan, regardless that it’s not clear but how a lot authorities funding will probably be out there.
So with all of this in thoughts, let’s take a look at a number of of the rising applied sciences from our high 10 record via a European lens:
- Generative AI for language is leveling the enjoying discipline for different languages. Immediately, solely some of the extensively used massive language fashions comes from Europe (Mistral). Nevertheless it’s not for need of expertise, as already talked about; for instance, the core of Meta’s Llama mannequin was additionally developed in France. So it shouldn’t be an excessive amount of of a stretch to fulfil the promise of growing fashions that assist European cultural and linguistic variety. The cumbersomely named Alliance for Language Applied sciences European Digital Infrastructure Consortium shaped in 2024, along with the extra not too long ago established Language Information House, helps the gathering of multilingual knowledge and making it out there through a market for language knowledge.
- All of the AI applied sciences in our high 10 can profit from funding in compute infrastructure. Again in 2021, the EU launched a regulation to ascertain the European Excessive Efficiency Computing Joint Endeavor with the target of constructing a brand new era of supercomputers inside Europe and to widen entry to present and future supercomputing capability and companies. In 2025, a lot of AI factories turned out there as a part of this initiative; they provide compute energy and assist companies freed from cost to small and medium enterprises in addition to startups.
- Autonomous mobility applied sciences are extra extensively used than is clear. You received’t see any driverless robotaxis on European roads in the present day, and there aren’t as many manufacturing facility robots deployed as in among the APAC nations. That mentioned, Germany is in fourth place in the case of robotic density within the manufacturing trade (behind South Korea, Singapore, and China). Autonomous trams and underground trains function in lots of European nations, and a wide range of transportation autos transfer autonomously in closed environments equivalent to factories and ports. Rollouts of companies like autonomous procuring deliveries exist, as effectively, albeit at a small scale. Additionally value mentioning are the advances made within the {hardware} and software program of autonomous drones pushed by the wants of the warfare in Ukraine. Value pressures, demographic shifts, and the will to cut back dependency on imports will proceed to drive funding in all the applied sciences below the autonomous mobility umbrella.
I’ve touched on some, however not all, of our high 10 rising applied sciences for 2025 on this submit. If you wish to get a deeper understanding of those applied sciences, take a look at our upcoming webinar on Might 21, the place Brian Hopkins, Forrester vp of the rising tech portfolio, will stroll via the ten applied sciences, clarify our profit horizons segmentation, and share extra use circumstances.
